Section 26 Copyright Act

Section 26 Copyright Act 2022 is about Special exceptions for blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled persons. It is under Part II (Exceptions to Copyright) of the Act.

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other section of this Act, an authorised entity may, without the permission of the owner of copyright in a work, make or procure an accessible format copy of a work or subject matter and supply the copy to beneficiary persons by any means, including non-profit lending, or electronic communication by wire or wireless means, on the condition that the —

(a) authorised entity desiring to undertake any of the activities under this section has lawful access to that work or subject matter or a copy of that work or subject matter ;
(b) work or subject matter is converted to an accessible format copy ;
(c) accessible format copy is supplied to be used exclusively by beneficiary persons ; and
(d) activity is undertaken on a non-profit basis.

(2) For the purpose of the requirement of subsection (1) (c), an authorised entity shall establish and follow its own practices, to —
(a) establish that the persons it serves are beneficiary persons ;
(b) limit its distribution to beneficiary persons or authorised entities and in making available of accessible format copies ;
(c) discourage the reproduction, distribution and making available of unauthorised copies ; and
(d) maintain due care in, and records of, its handling of copies of works or other subject matter while respecting the privacy of beneficiary persons.

(3) A beneficiary person is permitted to make an accessible format copy of a work or other subject matter for his personal use, where he has lawful access to that work or subject matter or a copy of that work or subject matter.

(4) A person acting on behalf of a beneficiary person, including a primary caretaker or caregiver, may assist the beneficiary person to make accessible format copies where the beneficiary person has lawful access to that work or subject matter or a copy of that work or subject matter.

(5) An authorised entity may, without the permission of the owner of a copyright, distribute or make available accessible format copies to an authorised entity in another country for the exclusive use of beneficiary persons or to a beneficiary person in another country, provided that prior to the distribution or making available, the authorised entity did not know or have reasonable grounds to know that the accessible format copy would be used other than for the beneficiary persons.

(6) An authorised entity, a beneficiary person or a person acting on his behalf including a primary caretaker or caregiver, may without the permission of the owner of copyright import an accessible format copy, including by wire or wireless means.

(7) For the purposes of this section —
(a) “works” include literary and artistic works in the form of text, notation or related illustrations that are not available in accessible formats ;

(b) “accessible format copy” means a copy of a work in an alternative manner or form which —
(i) gives a beneficiary person access to the work, as feasibly and comfortably as a person without visual impairment or other print disability, and
(ii) respects the integrity of the original work, taking due consideration of the changes needed to make the work accessible in the alternative format and of the accessibility needs of the beneficiary persons ;

(c) “authorised entity” means —
(i) an entity that is authorised or recognized by the government, or receives financial support from the government, to provide education, instructional training, adaptive reading or information access to beneficiary persons on a non-profit basis, or
(ii) a government institution or non-profit organisation that provides education, instructional training, adaptive reading or information access to beneficiary persons as part of its primary activities or institutional obligations ; and

(d) “beneficiary person” means a person who, regardless of any other disabilities —
(i) is blind,
(ii) has a visual impairment or a perceptual or reading disability which cannot be improved to give visual function substantially equivalent to that of a person who has no such impairment or disability and so is unable to read printed works to substantially the same degree as a person without an impairment or disability, or
(iii) is otherwise unable, through physical disability, to hold or manipulate a book or to focus or move the eyes to the extent that would be normally acceptable for reading